Dumping fork



Feb. 4, 1930. w. w. WALLACE 1,745,839

DUMP I NG FORK Filed June 7, 1927 4 Sheets-$heet l 14/5 ZWZZ Feb. 4, 1930. w. w. WALLACE DUMPING FORK Filed June 7, 1927 4 Sheegsr-Sheet 2 I77'U677T07 attorney Patented 4, 19

PATENT, (OFFICE 7 WILLIAM WALLACE, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO NEW YORK BRICK HAN- FZDLING CORPORATION, OF NEW'YORK, "Y.', A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK f DUMPING FORK 1 I Application .filed J'une 7, .1927. Serial n 197, o2 7.

'7 I My .{present invention relates to ,brick handling devices, and more particularly to tothe delivery point or destination thereof,

considerable difficulty has been experienced inutilizing mechanical loading andunloaders; To economically fill such containers withmechanically handled brick, it is practiing devices to-economically fill such containcally necessary for the, lifting or dumping I fork with its load or unitof brick tojbe depositedijnsuch container and gently placed to unload the unit load of brick in the bottom Jofthecontainer. The containersbeing relatively small and the lifting lingers of the ordinary dumping fork being rigid with respect to the frame of theliftingor'dumping fork, there'is not room to retract the lifting forkfrom the unit'of brick. Where a lifting ,or' dumping fork with pivoted fingers 1s employed,'there is so large a fulcrum or leverage to permit-retracting of the lifting fingersin dumping the load that it is impossibleto utilize such construction in a confined space such as is found-incontainer cars. Further,

' the operating means for tripping the lifting fingers is ordinarilyarranged to operate from below the-fork rather than fromabove the same. There is, therefore,wso far as; I 'am aware, no dumpingfork which can be successfully employed in loading container'cars .-with brick or other like construction.

"In'my present invention I'have obviated tliedifiiculties enumerated above-with respect "to former typesof dumping forksand have producedja dumping fork in which the fingers v farepivotal ly' arranged atthe' l owerend of the fork framefand-the increased leverage necessaryflto successfully lock the fingers in normal or rigid position is obtained'by utilizing the force necessary. toliftthe'load or unitof briok-itselfandwhen once locked, the

weight of the load locked position, i

By his 1 wr ...-prer 'sl arvhereiathe aeahafiism exten i a dumping fork is ll retain the fingers in I construction and arrangement of parts comprising mydevice willappear as the descripto the rear of the fork or fork frame is a mini mum and such fork may be operated in a small space- Further, the operating mechanism for releasing the pivoted lifting fingers to'thereby allow the unit load of brick to be deposited within the container may be operated from either above or below the lifting fork, and, therefore, one of the chiefdifiiculties is successfully overcome.

To facilitate entering the fork under the unit of brick, the portion of the lifting fingers to the rear of the actual lifting surface is beveled back, as such construction assists in entering the fork under the unit of brick when the front ends of the fingers are somewhat elevated. Again, the outer ends of the lifting fingers are arranged higher than the ends of the fingers adjacent to the fulcrum thereof, as with such construction the load is naturally balanced toward the back of the machine and thus bricks are prevented from falling ofi": the unit. I have further found it desirable to provide guard plates, both for the front of the frame carrying the lifting fingers and for the rear thereof, as such frame protects the various devices from injury by the bricks themselves and from injury byengagement with the walls of the conta ner. ,7 .The principal object of my invention,

therefore, is an improved dumping fork.

,A further object of my invention is an improved dumping fork having aplurality of parallelly'arranged and pivoted lifting fingers.

A still further object of my invention is "an improved dumping fork provided with locking means for the pivoted lifting fingers.

Another object of my invention is an improved guard device for protecting the operating mechanism of a dumping fork.

A further object of my invention is an improved construction whereby a unit load of brick will be carried in a position to prevent the outer, bricks thereof from falling. 1 Other objects and novel features of the tieaaft a s a oe i and F lg. 7 is a section on the line 7 1 of '2.

Referring to the-drawings, 10 designates a finger bar in which 1s SBCLH'QClYadIIQCGDt its lower end a finger hinge rod 11, and on such finger hinge rod is pivotally mounteda plurality of parallelly arranged lifting fingers 12. F ormed'integral with and extending upwardly fromthe body of the finger bar 10 are braces or brackets 13, to which are secured by bolts ,14 bracerods 15 of suitable length. Secured to the top of such brace rods 15 by bolts 16 are top framesjl'i. The top frames 17 are arranged in pairs and each pair has secured at'its rear end a shackle lug plate 18, such plates having formed integral therewith shackle lugs 19. Secur'e'dto each of the shackle lug plates 18: and extending downwardly and substantially vertically are guard angles 20. I

Secured in each pair of top frames 17 is a fulcrum shaft 21 and on which fulcrum shaft 21 is rotatably mounted a dumping fulcrum 22. Pivotally attached to the outer free end of each dumping fulcrum 22 is a lifting shackle 23 connected byashackle 24 toia bar each of .the lifting fingers12. As the fulr 25 that may be attached to any suitable lifting device. Further, pivotally attached to each shackle lug 19 is a lifting shackle 26 pivotally-attached to a shackle 27 attached to a bar 28 on the lifting device associated with the bar 25 The shackles 23 and 26, together with the associated members therefor, form a four-point suspension for the apparatus. The other ends of the dumping fulcrums 22 are forked, as indicated at 29, such other ends being part of the dumping fulcrum 22 and formed integrallytherewith, and in each forked end is'pivotallyattached the upper end of'a compression rod30. The lower ends of'these fulcrum rods 30 are threaded to receive adjusting nuts 31 and pass through'inwardly extending lugs 32 formed integral with andon one face of a finger plate 33. The finger plate 33'is provided on its lower end with a shaft 34, such shaft passing t iroughand piv'otally engaging with aligned perforations in a rearward extension '35 on crum levers22 are rotated on the fulcrum shaft 21, reciprocating motion is impartedto the compression rods 30, and. a simultaneoujs 'pivotingmovement of the lifting fingers 12 takesplac'e about the finger hinge shaft 11.

Secured to the opposing face's o f the inner ones of the pairs of top frames 17 in any apparatus.

suitable manner is a top frame connecting plate 36 and secured to the upper surface of I H the member 36 and thejtop frame 17 a locking latch frame 37, this locking latch frame having formed therein a bearing for a locking shaft 38. Secured to the upper face of the member 36 is a locking latch shaft box 39 acting as a bearing and as a support for the front end of the locking shaft 3.8. Secured to the rear end of the locking-shaft 38 is a locking lever hub 40, on which is formed a downwardlyextending-member 41 and an upwardly extending socket member 5 42. Secured to themember 41'by bolts43 is alever 44 and by means of which the locking shaft 38 may be rotatedf The socket 421s adapted to receive theend of any suitable lever and by means ofi'which the shaft 38 maybe rotated from the upper end 7 of the Formed in'theafr'oiit face of the locking latch frame 37 a guideway in-which is slidably mounted on either side of the locking shaft 38. locking latches 45". Secured to I the locking shaft 38 adjacent-to the'front face of the locking latch fram'e 3'7 is'a locking latch crank 46, and this crank has pivo'tally mounted at either end thereof a connecting;

rod 47.; The other ends of these connecting rods 47 are pivotallyattached to the locking latches 45. Rotation of the locking shaft 38 will cause a reciprocatory inward or outward movement of-the locking latches 45 with respectto such shaft 38 and in alignment with the path of movement of such locking latches isa locking notch 48 formed in the 1 forked end 29'of the dumping fulcru'ms 22. v

When the parts of the device, therefore, are

in the-position shown in 'Fig. 5, with the dumping fulcrum 22 practically horizontal and with the locking latches 45' in their outward position toengage with the notches 48 in the rear ends of such dumping fulcrums 22, the plurality of. parallelly arranged lifting fingers 12 will be in the full line position ShowninFig. 1, and when thus arranged, a rod-niaybepaced thereon and carried thereby without danger of dumping therod accident ally. If, however the lever 44 is operated to rotate the shaft 38 in the proper direction,

or if a-lever is inserted in the socket 42to" rotate such shaft 38 in the proper direction,

the'locking rods 45 will beretracted or moved inwardwith respect to thenotches 48 and if; the strain is taken off the lifting devices to which the bars 25 and 28 are attached, the

weight of the'load of brick or other material on the lifting tin ers 12 is sufficient to rotate 1 the lifting fingers 12 about the fingerghinge shaft 11 and as the apparatus is lifte'dupwardly, such liftingfingers willa'ssume the position indicated indotted lines in"Fig. 1.

It will be noted that the distance from the .finger hinge rod 11 rearwardly to. the shaft 7 34onthe finger plate 33-is very s'hort, and,- therefore, the overall dimension of the device.

, a'minimum. This allows the apparatus to be operated in a relatively small space. When ,the device is lowered, into a container, injury to the operating parts is prevented by the guard angles '20,which will engage with the side or ends of the container and serve to" guide the apparatus into and out of such container. I find it preferable to attach to the front face of the fingerbarlO and the ver- 1 tical. brace bars 15,a baffle plate 50 in anysuit- Q able manner to prevent bricks or other articles from falling off the load into the mech- 3 anism at the rear of the apparatus.

As there is a certain amount of spring in theframe and in the carrying fingers 12, it is necessary to provide adjustment for taking care of this condition in order that the fingers may be. in their proper position after a load is placedthereon. In order that this may be justing the nuts -81 on the rods and with relation to the lugs 32, the angular position J of the lifting fingers 12 with respect to the framework may be varied as desired. The use of the ad ustablefulcrum lever or compression rod, as above descr1bed,11s,as far as I am aware, new and novel and I propose to claim the same broadly;

" By referring to Fig. 3, there will be noticed a dot and dash line 51, which coincides with the top rear edge of the lifting fingers 12, and

further, it will'be noticed that such line 51 is a curved line and'indicating with the upper surface or edge of the lifting fingers 12 dey fines a concave surface or path. It is obvious,

, therefore, that when a rectangular unit of 1 r v brick is lifted on the fingers 31, that the mid-,

dle portion of such unit of brick will rest at a lower level thanthe outer portions of such unit and there will, therefore, be a tendency for the outer upper edges of the bricks of the innit to move inwardly. This construction,

therefore, steadies thelunit of brick on the fork and prevents theouter bricks of the unit from falling.

- While' I have necessarily shown and described the preferred embodiment of my in vention somewhat in detail, it is to be understood that I may vary the size, shape, and

arrangement of partscomprising the device within side limits' without departing from the spirit of the invention.

' In my'copending application, Serial No.

. 20t,217,*filed*July8, 1927, I havedescribed and claimed an improved method of operating the fork constitutingmy present'inven- I'claim as new is z Having thus described my inv'entiomwhat 1. An improveddumping fork comprising a base, a plurality of lifting fingers pivotally' attached thereto for rotation in vertical planes-into and out of horizontal position, lifting mechanism associated therewith, and means associated with the lifting mechanism for rotating said lifting fingers about their pivot point.

2. In an improved dumping fork, the combination of a base, a plurality of lifting fingers arranged parallel to each other, and

pivotally attached at a point intermediate their ends to the base, a finger plate pivotally attached at one end toone end of the lifting fingers, a fulcrum lever, connections between the fulcrum lever and the finger plate,

and a locking device associated with said fulcrum lever'for locking the lifting fingers inoperative position. I

3. In an improved dumping fork, the combination of a framework, a fulcrum lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends at lifting fingers in operative position.

- 4.,In a dumping fork, the combination of a framework, lifting mechanism associated therewith, a plurality of lifting fingers pivotally mounted on the framework, controlling means associated with the lifting mechanism for positively operating said lifting fingers, and guard members mounted on said frame for preventing injury to the operating mechanism.

5. In an improved dumping fork, a plu-- rality'of pivotally arranged lifting fingers lying parallel to each other, and with the upper edges of each succeeding finger from the outside inward with respect to the plurality of fingers of less height than the preceding finger.

6. In an improved dumping fork, the combination of a framework, a plurality of lifting fingers pivotally attached thereto at the lower end thereof, said fingers defining by gheir upper edges a practically concave surace.

7. In an im roved dumping fork, the combination of a ramework, a plurality of lifting fingers pivotally attached thereto and movable in a vertical plane, controlling I mechanism for said lifting fingers pivotally 

